RELOADING FOR HANDGUNNERS PATRICK SWEENEY RELOADING FOR HANDGUNNERS PATRICK SWEENEY Copyright ©2011 Patrick Sweeney All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani- cal, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or elec- tronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet. Published by Gun Digest® Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc. Krause Publications • 700 East State Street • Iola, WI 54990-0001 715-445-2214 • 888-457-2873 www.krausebooks.com To order books or other products call toll-free 1-800-258-0929 or visit us online at www.krausebooks.com, www.gundigeststore.com or www.Shop.Collect.com Cover photography by Kris Kandler Hornaday Cover ISBN-13: 978-1-4402-1770-8 ISBN-10: 1-4402-1770-X Cover Design by Tom Nelsen Designed by Kara Grundman Edited by Corrina Peterson Printed in the United States of America DEDICATION or years, and books now, you have seen dedications to Felicia. Th is book is no excep- tion. Without her life would be diff erent – less fun, less traveled, less productive, and Ffor you the readers, less, period. However, there is an addition. Dan Shideler came on board as my editor for Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Vol- ume 2. With all due respect to those who labored with me before, Dan was easy to work with, fun to work with, and a veritable fountain of ideas and enthusiasm. For ten books we did our best to provide you, the reader, with information, entertainment, photos and something to look forward to on the bookshelves. Alas, no more. Dan left us in the Spring of 2011, too early. So, for Felicia, who is still here, and for Dan, who isn’t, safe reloading. Patrick Sweeney June 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................6 SECTION ONE: Getting Started ..........................................................8 Chapter One: What you need ................................................................ 10 Chapter Two: Brass .............................................................................. 34 Chapter Three: Bullets ........................................................................... 54 Chapter Four: Powder ........................................................................... 64 Chapter Five: Setting up and maintaining your dies ..................................... 70 Chapter Six: Statistics ............................................................................ 88 Chapter Seven: Load development & testing .............................................. 94 Chapter Eight: Primers ......................................................................... 102 SECTION TWO: Reloading Data By Caliber ................................... 116 Chapter Nine: 9mm Parabellum ............................................................ 118 Chapter Ten: 10mm ............................................................................ 126 Chapter Eleven: .32 Auto .................................................................... 132 Chapter Twelve: .32 Revolvers – Short, Long, Magnum, .327 and .32-20 .... 136 Chapter Thirteen: .38 Special .............................................................. 144 Chapter Fourteen: .38 Super ................................................................ 152 Chapter Fifteen: .40 S&W ................................................................... 160 Chapter Sixteen: .41 Magnum ............................................................. 168 Chapter Seventeen: .44 Magnum ......................................................... 174 Chapter Eighteen: .44 Special ............................................................. 182 Chapter Nineteen .45 ACP ................................................................. 188 Chapter Twenty: .45 Colt .................................................................... 196 Chapter Twenty One: .357 Magnum ..................................................... 202 Chapter Twenty Two: .357 Sig ............................................................. 208 Chapter Twenty Three: .380 Auto .......................................................... 214 Chapter Twenty Four: .38-40 ................................................................ 218 INTRODUCTION hy reload? One might as well ask allows you to shoot some fi rearms at all. Th ere some of us, “Why shoot? Why are fi rearms for which one cannot purchase Wcompete? Why climb a moun- ammunition, but for which ammunition can tain?” Because it is there. be loaded. Now, in many cases there is a good But, existential questions aside, why reload reason ammo isn’t available; for one, many is simple: control. If you wish to shoot and handguns should not be fi red. And that in- you depend on factory ammunition, you are cludes rarities as well as elderly specimens. dependent on: 1) what the ammo companies Th is is not your typical reloading manual. make; 2) what the store stocks; and 3) what What you have here is the collation of my your budget can aff ord. If any of those three personal experiences of decades of reloading. do not fi t your needs or desires, you will have a Some will be obvious, some will not. less pleasurable experience at the range. If two I do not try to show some sort of loading data fail, you might well not be shooting at all. for every handgun cartridge in existence. For One thing we have to get clear right away: one thing, I haven’t loaded them all. And an- you are not going to save money by reloading. other, I don’t have them all. (Even in my circles Oh, don’t get me wrong, you will recoup your there are calibers one just doesn’t see.) What I capital investments (whatever they may be, cover are the ones I’ve done a whole passel of over whatever period of time you spend) but loading for, the ones I fi nd interesting, and the you will not save money. You will not save any ones that I hope you will fi nd useful. for the simple reason that, if you are like the And for each, I include my lessons learned, rest of us, any potential savings will be plowed the hints, tips and tricks I’ve found that keep right into shooting more. them running. You see, while reloading is re- Th at is, if your “ouch” limit on shooting fun loading, each cartridge can (and oft en does) for the weekend is $100 of ammo, you will have its own quirks, peculiarities and needs. spend up to the point it begins to hurt. With Sort of like cars in that way. factory ammo, that could be 100 rounds. With And I also give you the lowdown on the re- reloads, it could be 1,000 rounds. I ran into loading process. Th ere are things you can do this same phenomenon when I was learning that will work to keep you out of trouble, and photography. Buying fi lm in bulk, loading fi lm things that will make the work (if we can even canisters and doing my own developing didn’t call it that) a lot easier. save money. It just meant a whole lot more If you tend to your press – keep it clean, lube practice, and practice is what makes you good. the working parts (and keep lubricant away And that makes the expenditures worthwhile. from the primer feed system) – it will last a In addition to shooting more, reloading also good, long time. 6 ❘ Reloading for Handgunners In the course of practicing, having fun, com- ting soft ware starts transposing numbers like peting, teaching and being taught, and testing a maniac, it wasn’t me. Check my data your- fi rearms as a gunsmith, I’ve shot over a mil- self, against that published by others. If, for ex- lion rounds. A large percentage of those were ample, everyone else has published that a par- reloads. Properly done, reloaded ammunition ticular caliber/bullet/powder combo is maxed can be as reliable, accurate and safe as factory- out at 5.8 grains, and for some reason my list produced ammunition. shows it as 8.5 grains, it’s that spilled coff ee Take care of your press and take care in your working mischief. reloading, and you too can reach the million- If your brother-in-law not only takes your round mark. prized SAA, and with his brand-new ream- And, let’s take a moment here to satisfy the ers opens the chambers up from .44 Special to lawyers, the cautious, and the ‘sky is falling” something else, and proceeds to scatter bits of crowd. Th ese loads worked fi ne in my guns. it across the range with his ammo, don’t come I’ve checked them against industry data and looking to me. the published information of the ammo and We’re all adults here, and doing something powder makers. I’ve done all I can to make unsafe, unreasonable or just plain bone-head- sure they are ready for your enjoyment. ed gets you no sympathy from the rest of the Th ere are, however, things that are out of my shooting public. control. For instance, if someone in the print- Now that I’ve scared you off reloading, have ing plant spills some coff ee, and the typeset- fun. Introduction ❘ 7 Section I Getting Started 8 ❘❘ ReloadingReloading forfor HandgunnersHandgunners WhatGetting You StartedNeed ❘ 9 10 ❘ Reloading for Handgunners Chapter One WHAT YOU NEED hat you need is simple: empty the moment). It just does so at a diff erent lev- brass of the correct caliber for el of comfort, style, safety and reliability. Wyour needs/fi rearms/gear, and Reloading equipment of all levels can and appropriate bullets,